


Scientific Methodology

by PeachAspic



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, a weird space family gets one more member, will likely contain spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-01-30 05:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21422707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachAspic/pseuds/PeachAspic
Summary: The last thing Weaver West, captain of the Unreliable, expected to see upon arriving at the hidden laboratory of Phineas Welles was a cryo-pod. More specifically, she was surprised at the presence of a currently-in-use cryo-pod. “What the fuck is going on?”“Ah, yes,” said Phineas, his words crackling through the voice box. “It seems I haven’t been entirely truthful with you.”--An alternate path in which not one, but two Hope colonists aid in the take-down of the Board.
Relationships: Phineas Welles/OC, The Captain/Felix Millstone
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is meant to take place sometime around when the Captain is doing quests on Monarch. Will most likely contain spoilers so be warned!

INCOMING TRANSMISSION FOR WEAVER WEST

MESSAGE LOADING...

  
  
_Weaver,_  
  
_Meet me at the lab ASAP. We must discuss our plan urgently. There are certain steps that must be taken far sooner than I expected._  
  
_-P._  
  
——  
  
The last thing Weaver West, captain of the Unreliable, expected to see upon arriving at the hidden laboratory of Phineas Welles was a cryo-pod. More specifically, she was surprised at the presence of a currently-in-use cryo-pod. “What the _fuck_ is going on?”  
  
“Ah, yes,” said Phineas, his words crackling through the voice box. “It seems I haven’t been entirely truthful with you.” As per usually Phineas was behind a thick barrier of glass, separating himself from the section of the lab Weaver, the pod, and a curiously snuffling cystipig named Bubbles were currently occupying. She had chosen to have her crew remain onboard the Unreliable in order to give Phineas his much beloved privacy, though she currently found herself second guessing this decision. In the center of her portion of the lab stood the familiar pod, though not the cracked open and out of commission one she was used to seeing during her visits. No, this one was still sealed tightly shut, the only opening a valved tube running upward into what looked to be some sort of makeshift AC unit of sorts. Periodically bursts of freezing cold air would shoot from the valve in small puffs and condensation accumulated and dripped down the metal siding like a cool bottle of Rizzo’s. A series of mismatched towels had been piled around the bottom of the pod to catch the aforementioned moisture, giving the whole setup a decidedly jury-rigged appearance.  
  
Weaver could not make out the occupant of the pod. The port window was far too small to see in properly from her angle and the glass was foggy enough to obfuscate what little could be seen otherwise. Still, she could tell it was occupied by the steady beeping of the diagnostics tablet that Phineas had managed to wire into the pod’s own internal monitoring systems. There on the screen plain as day was a heartbeat. It was faint, only making tiny little blips in the otherwise steady line, but it was there and unmistakable. Whoever was in the pod, they were alive and thawing.  
  
“Okay, Phin, I’m going to need a real good explanation as to why you have another colonist defrosting in your office,” said Weaver, her expression set into a tight frown and hands settling on her hips in an accusatory manner. Bubbles snuffled gently at her fingers in search of pets—Phineas would deny it, but Weaver knew he babied the damn thing—and she relented with a sigh.  
  
“First of all, this is a laboratory. Offices are for _bureaucrats_—"  
  
“_Phin_.”  
  
“—And second, this is precisely what I mentioned in my message! The next part of the plan, just a little earlier than expected perhaps. Here.” Phineas turned, scurrying over to one of the many note-covered corners of the lab and unpinning a booklet from the wall. “This is a magazine distributed throughout the colonies back in the early days just before the launch of the Hope.” He held up the cover to her, the front emblazoned with a detailed illustration of the ship along with the words “New Hope for Halcyon” printed in big serifed letters. “They wanted to show off the bona fides of some of the more well known passengers. Medical professionals, business analysts, esteemed writers, all people that had been hand selected by the corporations to come to Halcyon for various tasks, but most importantly, to make the colonies look good. All propaganda, of course, but the people they enlisted truly were experts in their field which—ah—brings me to this—“ He turned the magazine away, flipping through the pages rapidly before finally announcing “aha!” and pressing an article flush against the glass for her to read.  
  
“‘Renowned Scientist Amongst Passengers of Hope’,” she read aloud before looking over at the accompanying illustration. It was of a later middle-aged woman seated at a desk with a microscope placed in front of her. She was dressed in a crisp white lab coat and tortoiseshell glasses framing warm eyes, the corners of which creased into little lines when she smiled. Her long hair was silver with streaks of darker grey and was pinned back in a bun with several tendrils that seemed to have come loose falling around her face. She looked professional, resolute but not in a way that was cold or stiff. What caught Weaver's eye, however, was not the woman's expression, but the Kolway Pharmaceuticals pin nestled neatly against her lapel. "A Board crony?" she said, shaking her head. "Why?"

"Ah, hired only just before the launch, specifically for this mission! A Board acquisition from an esteemed university back on earth. And don't forget, they left her to rot aboard the Hope along with everyone else. I suspect she'll be eager to get some answers from them when she awakens. I can only hope it will be enough to sway her to our cause."

"And if it doesn't?"

"It's the same risk I took with you, Weaver. There comes a point where we have done all we can, and we must have faith in the humanity of others." Weaver let out a sigh. She hated when he got all introspective and shit, especially when he was right. 

“Okay, that still doesn’t explain how you ended up with this pod. When did you go back to the Hope? How are you thawing her without those chemicals?”  
  
“Ah, you weren’t the only one I managed to extract that day on the Hope. I managed to retrieve both you and our new friend here. I’ve just been maintaining her cryogenically frozen state until the time was right. As for the dimethyl sulfoxide, I had just enough for two subjects. Your trial run has proven successful with minimal side effects so far. As much as I’d rather observe you more first, I fear with the Board breathing down our necks we must move on with the plan.”  
  
Weaver’s jaw dropped open. “Wait, are you saying I was just a guinea pig?!” she cried indignantly. Had there not been a glass barrier between them, she may have been inclined to grab him by his ratty coat and shake the answers out of him. As it was, she settled on glaring daggers at him and hoping he got the message.  
  
“Good heavens, no!” Phineas’s brow furrowed as he withdrew the magazine, neatly closing it and pinning it back into place. “You have been absolutely invaluable to our cause, Weaver. Rest assured I went through numerous non-human trials before I ever even considering attempting it on a person.”  
  
“Then why didn’t you get her out first? Another scientist seems like it would be a lot more useful than a former tossball mascot with a laundry list of misdemeanors and a high school degree, _barely_.”  
  
“Weaver,” he said, this time positioning himself directly in front of her. His tone was low, serious, and not nearly as erratic as usual. It was as if he was focusing on making sure every word of what he was about to say would be taken with the utmost sincerity. “I did not need a scientist back then. I needed a revolutionary. I needed someone unafraid to throw off the yolk of our oppressive authority. Someone who was willing and ready to break laws if they were not just. I needed you.” Weaver’s previously tensed shoulders fell, his words placating her enough to turn her expression of anger into thinly veiled pride.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, flattery ain’t gonna get you nowhere, old man,” she said with a sigh before running her fingers through her short verdant locks. “Alright I’ll bite. Why wake her now then?”  
  
“Well initially I had every intention of waiting until we were closer to obtaining the rest of the needed dimethyl sulfoxide. As a chemical engineer, she would be able to assist in reviving the rest of the colonists. Now, however, I’m finding it more and more prudent that this knowledge not be kept to me alone. If anything is to happen to me, you’ll need someone else who can save them.”  
  
“So she’s your backup?”  
  
“Precisely.”  
  
Weaver frowned, crossing her arms across her chest. There he went again, all self-sacrifice-y, as though he fully expected and accepted his role as martyr to his cause. It made her uncomfortable to hear him talk about it as if it was an inevitability. As unorthadox as their relationship was, working or otherwise, she liked the old man. He was the first she had adopted into her little found family and it squeezed something deep in the pit of her stomach to imagine something happening to him. “Well I don’t plan on leaving you behind any time soon, but I’ll do...whatever it is you need me to do to help,” she said finally. Phineas visibly perked up at her acquiescence, sliding back into his usual high energy eccentricities as though he had never let them slip. A grin slid onto his face as he leaned a little closer to the glass barrier between them.  
  
“Excellent!” he announced, and between his unkempt hair, slanted brows, and eyes that now shone with a peculiar glint of rebellion, he looked more like a mad scientist than ever. "First, I'll need you to return to Monarch." 


	2. Questioning

The first thing Vera perceived was pain. Not the sharp, wounding pain of a cut or scrape. No, this was a deep, thrumming, aching pain like waking up with a stiff neck. She let out a groan, her hand moving to rest against her forehead as the lights behind her eyelids grew unbearably bright. Did she leave the bedroom lights on last night? No, she didn’t remember going to bed.

The Hope.

That’s right.

She was in cryo-stasis, ‘was’ being the operative word as she sincerely doubted she’d be having these thoughts was she still in a medically induced coma. As she was rapidly finding out, waking up from cryo-stasis felt like a strange blend of a mild hangover and altitude sickness. It was, to put it mildly, very disorienting. She reached down to the pocket of her jumpsuit, patting at the fabric until she finally felt the familiar outline of her glasses. Good, well that solved one problem. Now there was the problem of her headache.

“Excuse me?” she called out, allowing her eyes to linger shut for a few moments more even as she returned the spectacles to her face. “Hello? I’d like some assistance please!” She was met with silence aside from the steady din of her heart monitor which was...unexpected. The officials from Kolway Pharmaceuticals had assured there would be medical staff on duty 24/7 when they reached their destination to aid the new arrivals with waking, so where were they? 

Vera reached her hands out to her sides, feeling around the the cramped pod until her fingers found the emergency escape latch tucked just to the left of the door’s seam. The front hatch of the cryo-pod made a hiss as it depressurized and slowly lifted itself away with some assistance from her pushing, sliding off and landing on the ground with a loud thud. Vera let out a cough as her lungs were suddenly hit with cool, stale air and her hands flew to the edge of the pod opening in order to steady herself.The pod, she realized, was at an angle somewhere between laying flat and standing vertically which produced a strange vertigo-like effect when she finally found the strength to haul herself up properly upright. Her eyes blinked then squinted as they adjusted to the bright fluorescent lighting above. She had thus far deduced that she was in some sort of medical facility from the acrid smell of antiseptic that permeated her surroundings, though as far as she could tell she was it’s only occupant. “Hello? Anyone?” 

As the world around her slowly came into focus it became abundantly clear that she was no longer aboard the Hope. The room she was in was large, industrial in design, and segmented into two parts by a green-tinted glass partition. The part she was in looked significantly smaller, but much better lit, allowing her to get a good look at her immediate surroundings. She was in a laboratory, that much she could discern, with metal countertops lining the walls and various scientific instruments strewn about meant for all manner of measurement. Several cadaver gurneys were pushed haphazardly to the right side of the room. Large, oddly shaped masses lay unmoving beneath stained sheets atop them. Whatever they were, they certainly weren’t human, or at least she hoped that was the case. Handwritten research documents covered nearly every unoccupied surface in the lab with no discernible order nor organization save for what she could only describe as piles. Yes, it was a laboratory, but one that would not meet any of the housekeeping regulations of the previous ones she had worked in. Despite the confusion, fear, and concern that pooled in the pit of her stomach at waking up alone in a mysterious place, Vera couldn’t help but be annoyed by what she saw. There was sheet metal peeled up from the floor to expose the internal ductwork, tubing scattered about in pieces underfoot, who knows what the brown gunk caked to the walls was. “What sort of scientist keeps a lab in such a state?” she muttered to herself, lips pursed with disapproval. This was far from the state-of-the-art facilities Kolway had promised.

Carefully, Vera lifted herself into standing position, steadying herself on the giant metal pod until she felt she had her balance back. Reaching behind her, she detached the pod’s diagnostics cables from her suit, the rhythmic beating of the heart monitor screen cutting sharply to a flatline as the machine ceased to detect life at the other end of its wires. With her suit no longer tethering her to the pod, Vera found herself quietly exploring. 

The silhouetted figures on the gurneys were, of course, the the primary focus of her interest. She approached the tables slowly on the off chance that whatever lay beneath the sheet was, in fact, still alive. Upon closer inspection she could see the floor below was covered in what looked to be blood that extended in spatters across the floor and wall adjacent to the gurney. A sick feeling washed over her at the grim sight, a multitude of thoughts flooding her brain. What was this place? Some sort of organ harvesting facility? An illegal biological weapon laboratory? What happened to the Hope? Through the cacophony of panicked thoughts Vera took a deep breath and steadied herself. She had to find out what she was dealing with and the biggest clue to this mystery was whatever was on this table.

With careful hands she slowly pulled back the cloth revealing a massive tumorous creature with long uneven tusks protruding from its snout. It was swine-like, but almost completely covered in bulging lumps of flesh the size of her fist of larger. The corpulent beast was dead, and from the looks of the black tissue damage around its extremities the cause has been from freezing. The sight of the deformed animal was enough to make her stomach turn and her face pale, but before she could draw any more assumptions she heard hurried footsteps coming from the door behind her. A spike of adrenaline surged through her.She felt her fight of flight response kick into high gear, her brain acting partially on autopilot as she swiftly snatched up a scalpel from one of the nearby surgical trays and ducked behind the one of the many gurneys.

From beyond the door she heard a voice. It was muffled, most of the words blurring together into a string of strained mumbling, but she could at least make out a few colorful expletives now and again. Suddenly the door slid open and in stumbled a man, not terribly older than her and dressed in leathers that looked like they had seen better days. He ran one hand through his disheveled grey hair, the other gripping a data tablet tightly on which a flatlined EKG was displayed matching the one attached to her cryo-pod. “How could this happen?! I take one ten minute nap and somehow she goes into cardiac arres—“

Before he could even have a chance to take in the empty pod Vera leapt from her hiding spot, charging the man and ramming her shoulder into his center of gravity as hard as she could. The man let out a strangle yelp and crumpled to the ground like a rag doll beneath her. Vera scrambled inelegantly into a seated position on top of him, her legs straddling his waist, one hand pinned on his shoulder and the other holding the blade flush to his throat. “WHO ARE YOU?!” she demanded through grit teeth, pressing the knife a little harder into his skin for emphasis. The man was looking up at her in a state of shock, gaping like a salmon wordlessly as she pushed on. “ANSWER ME!”

“M-my name is Dr. Phineas Vernon Welles. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Strauss, though I wish it were under better circumstances.” Vera was taken slightly aback by his unexpected cordiality, and he used the moment to look her up and down. “Remarkable! You’ve managed to recover from your cryogenic suspension in half the time as the previous subject!” Confused but undeterred in her quest for answers, Vera pressed more of her weight down onto his shoulder. 

“Where am I?!”

“You’re in a formerly abandoned asteroid station just outside of Terra 2. I brought you here in order to revive you from your cryogenic stasis. I mean you no harm, Dr. Strauss.” He put his hands up slowly, displaying his palms as if to show his surrender. Vera relaxed only slightly, drawing the scalpel back a few inches where it no longer touched his throat.

“Why am I not aboard the Hope? Why did you take me?”

“Partway through the Hope’s journey it experienced a catastrophic failure of its skip drive. The Board—the heads of the corporations that sponsored the whole thing, determined it was too costly to rescue. They lied to the colonists in Halcyon, said that the Hope was lost.” As he spoke Vera’s face fell, her expression changing to one of confusion and fear. The scalpel fell to her side. Phineas paused for but a moment, as though willing himself to continue in his duties as the bearer of bad news. “You and the other colonists aboard the Hope have been in stasis for seventy years. I...I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, Dr. Strauss...” Vera slowly sat back on her haunches, no longer hovering threateningly above him, and Phineas rose up to prop himself on his elbows. 

“Seventy years...” Seventy years meant that everyone she knew on Earth, all of her friends, colleagues, family, everyone, had all likely already passed away. She knew she would likely never see them again when she departed earth, after all she was traveling to the far reaches of space, but...to know it already happened was an entirely different matter to comprehend. There was, of course, the possibility he was lying. Why he would go through such an elaborate lie just to kidnap her, she couldn’t fathom, but it still was possible. “Where...where are the rest of the passengers?” 

“All are back aboard the Hope save for you and one other person. Reviving someone after seven decades of cryogenic suspension is no easy task, and I only had the means to wake two of you...Dr. Strauss, I need your help to rescue the rest of the colonists. The things that the Board has been doing—unthinkable atrocities...the only people that can stop them are the passengers of the Hope. Outsiders who haven’t been indoctrinated by them. People like you.” He was giving her a sympathetic look now, and Vera had to look away to keep her focus. No, no, she had to stay collected. She couldn’t allow whatever emotions she was feeling at the loss of everything she’d ever known allow her to lose her level-headedness. She was a woman of science! And science meant examining all of the data before drawing any conclusions. 

“Tell me everything that’s happened in the last seventy years. Show me proof of what you’ve told me.” Phineas nodded before letting out a nervous sputter, his eyes rapidly darting from her to a spot on the wall and back. 

“I’d—er—be delighted to tell you everything over a cup of tea, but, ah, first you will have to kindly remove yourself from my person.” Vera blinked for a moment before looking down and realizing she was still effectively pinning him to the floor.

“Oh!” she said, quickly scrambling upright. “I apologize!”

“No offense taken! I imagine it must be quite alarming to wake in such circumstances!” Vera offered him her hand, hoisting him back up to standing position. He seemed unused to physical contact, hesitating and flinching at every touch. Vera chose to respect his personal space, but noted the peculiarity for later investigation. For now she let him guide the way deeper into the facility, passing even more strange and half-finished experiments the likes of which rivaled the mutant pig she saw earlier. Her hand instinctively wandered to the scalpel she had subtly pocketed earlier. Just in case.

The kitchen was less a kitchen and more a break room that had been somewhat haphazardly converted into kitchen. A small, cheaply made metal table with chairs stood in the center of the room, an old textbook shoved under one leg to keep it from wobbling. A laboratory fridge with a clear glass front for viewing samples had been pushed into one corner. Strange meats and fruits could be seen on the inside as well as different pre-packaged food products, none of which she recognized. 

For the next few hours Vera sat there at the wobbly table drinking tea made via Bunsen burned and listening intently to Phineas’s every word. He told her of the formation of the Board, the lies the colonists were told of the Hope going missing, the inhumane ways in which they treated their laborers. He brought her old magazine article clippings, advertisements, and other propaganda to back up his words, each one more comically transparent than the last. He told her about himself, albeit briefly, and how in no uncertain terms the Board had branded him a criminal. He even produced his own wanted poster. 

Vera listened studiously, asking questions when need be but otherwise devoid of commentary. Internally, however, her mind was racing. Everything he presented her seemed true enough. It would have take a huge amount of effort to falsify this much evidence, but perhaps he was leaving something out? Was there more to him being labeled a terrorist than he told? And even if she didn’t trust him, where did that leave her? Stranded on an asteroid alone with a dangerous criminal?

When Phineas was finally finished his explanation Vera had come to a decision. For now she would trust him, at least enough stay put. If he truly needed help rescuing the other colonists she would do it. “So have I sufficiently frightened you with the state of everything?” said Phineas with a tired chuckle and Vera shook her head. 

“No. Dr. Welles I’m going to help you bring the colonists out of cryo-stasis. As for starting any sort of rebellion, I’m going to need more proof than just your word and some old articles. I want to see what’s happening.” Phineas let out a sigh and collected their empty mugs.

“I suspected you’d say as much. The next time our friend Captain Weaver stops by you can accompany her. Hopefully then you’ll be able to see how dire the situation truly is.” So that was it then. She would at least be able to get off of the asteroid and escape if she found he was lying. If he was not, well, she would see with her own eyes what the Board was capable of. 

Vera let out a yawn she’s been fighting back as Phineas deposited their dishes into the sink. “Apologies,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “You would think after sleeping for seventy years I wouldn’t be so tired.”

“On the contrary, your body isn’t used to this much exertion. Let me show you to your quarters.” Vera nodded, standing up to follow him, eager to see where she would be staying for the foreseeable future. She had much to think about, and some time alone to contemplate what all had happened would do her some good to put her mind at ease.

“Oh, Dr. Welles,” she said as they passed into the winding corridors of the old asteroid facility, “I have one more question.”

“Yes, Dr. Strauss?”

“Was that a dead pig in your lab?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No proof reading, we die like men


End file.
